By Sal DiBenedetto, Licensed Real Estate Broker · The DiBe Group, brokered by eXp Realty · Updated October 2026

Quick answer: A flat fee listing in Hendry County puts your LaBelle, Clewiston, Port LaBelle, Felda or Montura home or land on SWFLA MLS through a licensed Florida broker, and you pay one flat listing fee at closing instead of a percentage commission. Nothing is due upfront. You keep control of price, showings and what, if anything, you offer a buyer’s agent.

Hendry County is not Lee or Collier. Homes here sit on acreage, on half-acre lots in Port LaBelle, along the Caloosahatchee River, or a few miles from the Lake Okeechobee shoreline in Clewiston. Buyers are a mix of local families, agricultural workers, Lee County commuters priced out of Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres, and cash land buyers. Sales take longer than on the coast, so the cost of selling matters more. I’m Sal DiBenedetto, a licensed Florida broker with The DiBe Group, brokered by eXp Realty, and this page explains how a flat fee listing in Hendry County works, what the 2026 market looks like, and the local issues that tend to come up before closing. For the bigger picture across the region, see our Southwest Florida flat fee listing hub.

What does the Hendry County housing market look like in 2026?

Hendry County is a slower, more price-sensitive market than the coastal counties. According to Redfin, the county’s median sale price was about $284,000 for the three months ending August 2026, down roughly 11% from a year earlier. Homes took a median of about 106 days to sell, up from about 88 days the year before, and sellers received about 95.9% of their final list price on average. Only about 30 homes closed county-wide in August 2026 by Redfin’s count, which shows how thin the buyer pool can be in any single month.

The two incorporated cities move differently. Redfin reported LaBelle’s median sale price at about $299,000 in September 2026, roughly flat year over year, with a median of about 129 days on market over the prior three months. Clewiston’s median was about $340,000 for the three months ending July 2026, up about 11%, with roughly 70 days on market and sellers getting about 93% of list price. Small sample sizes swing these numbers month to month, so a local comparable-sales review matters more than any headline median.

Supply is the other story. Zillow counted about 242 homes for sale in Hendry County in August 2026, and market tracker Momentum estimated roughly 13 months of supply in October 2026. That is a buyer’s market by any normal measure. In a market like this, price, presentation and wide exposure decide which listings sell, and a lower cost of selling gives you more room to negotiate.

What does a flat fee save on a typical Hendry County sale?

Commissions in Florida are negotiable, but many sellers are still quoted a listing-side percentage, plus whatever they choose to offer a buyer’s agent. Using the county’s median sale price of about $284,000, here is what common percentage fees look like compared with one flat listing fee:

On a 10-acre parcel or a ranch home that sells for well above the median, the gap gets bigger, because a percentage grows with your price and a flat fee does not. To see what you would actually walk away with after the mortgage payoff, doc stamps, title and taxes, run your numbers through our Southwest Florida seller net sheet, or start with a free home value estimate.

Hendry County property types and how buyers shop them

Acreage, ranchettes and agricultural land

Agriculture drives Hendry County. The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture counted about 587,000 acres in farms across 392 operations, with an average farm size near 1,500 acres. The county ranked fourth in Florida for the value of agricultural products sold, about $633 million, led by sugarcane, oranges and vegetables, and it carried roughly 64,700 head of cattle. For sellers, that means rural parcels compete with a working agricultural landscape. Buyers of 5-, 10- and 40-acre tracts ask about road frontage, fencing, pasture condition, drainage, zoning, wetlands and whether the land has an agricultural classification. A good listing answers those questions in the MLS remarks and documents before a buyer has to ask.

Port LaBelle and other platted lot communities

Port LaBelle is the county’s largest unincorporated community. It grew from about 3,500 residents in 2010 to about 5,450 in 2020, per the Census, and it extends north across the line into Glades County. Much of the new single-family construction in the LaBelle area happens here, so resale sellers are often competing with builders offering new homes and incentives. Pricing a resale against new construction, and pointing out what a finished, landscaped home offers that a new build does not, is a big part of how these listings sell.

Clewiston and Montura Ranch Estates

Clewiston, on the southwest shore of Lake Okeechobee, calls itself “America’s Sweetest Town” because of its long ties to U.S. Sugar. It is the county’s largest city, with about 7,300 residents in the state’s April 2025 estimate. In-town homes near the lake attract local buyers and anglers who fish Lake O for largemouth bass. Montura Ranch Estates, a rural subdivision with a Clewiston address, draws buyers looking for more room at a lower price point, and these listings tend to raise questions about water, wastewater, road access and lot clearing.

Mobile and manufactured homes

Manufactured homes on their own land are common across rural Hendry County, from Felda to the outskirts of LaBelle and Clewiston. Financing depends on details: whether the home is permanently affixed, whether the title has been retired so the home is part of the real property, its year of manufacture, and whether the foundation meets lender requirements. Buyers using FHA, VA or USDA loans will look closely at these points. Having the home’s HUD data plate information, title status and any foundation certification ready before you list avoids a failed loan halfway through the contract.

Riverfront homes on the Caloosahatchee

LaBelle sits on the Caloosahatchee River, and the county seat’s riverfront and older neighborhoods have a character buyers from Fort Myers often look for. River access, dock condition, seawall or bank stabilization, and flood zone are the questions that come up first.

Hendry County seller issues to plan for

Well, septic and rural utilities

Outside the city utility areas, many homes run on a private well and septic system. Buyers and lenders regularly ask for a well water test and a septic inspection, and some require a septic pump-out. Pulling the original septic permit, knowing the age of the drainfield and the well pump, and fixing obvious issues before you list keeps negotiations from stalling during the inspection period.

Agricultural classification and property taxes

Florida’s agricultural (“greenbelt”) classification can sharply lower the taxable value of qualifying land, but it applies to bona fide agricultural use, and a new owner generally has to qualify and apply in their own name with the Hendry County Property Appraiser. Buyers need to understand that their tax bill may be calculated differently than yours. Your homestead exemption and Save Our Homes cap also do not transfer to the buyer, and taxes are reassessed based on the sale. The state’s 2025-26 county averages put total Hendry millage at roughly 15.8 mills, though the actual rate depends on location within the county.

Lake Okeechobee, flood zones and insurance

The Herbert Hoover Dike, which rings Lake Okeechobee for 143 miles, finished a roughly $1.5 billion rehabilitation in January 2023, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with the ribbon-cutting held in Clewiston. Even so, some low-lying parcels near the lake and along the river sit in FEMA flood zones, and insurers price wind risk across the whole county. First Street’s data, shown on Redfin, rates nearly every Hendry property at extreme wind risk and about 19% at risk of severe flooding over 30 years. Florida’s updated seller flood disclosure, effective October 1, 2025, requires residential sellers to disclose known flood damage, flood insurance claims and any assistance received for flood repairs. Our guide to Florida flood disclosure for home sellers walks through it.

Storm history and permits

Hurricane Ian brought wind gusts of roughly 60 to 70 mph to Hendry County in 2022, per the National Weather Service. Roofs, sheds, carports and manufactured home skirting repaired after a storm should have permits closed out. Open or expired permits show up in a buyer’s title search and lender review and are easier to clear before you list than during a 30-day closing.

Cities and communities we serve in Hendry County

• LaBelle – county seat on the Caloosahatchee River; about 5,600 residents (April 2025 estimate)
• Clewiston – the county’s largest city, on Lake Okeechobee
• Port LaBelle – fast-growing platted community north of LaBelle, extending into Glades County
• Montura Ranch Estates – rural subdivision with Clewiston addresses
• Felda – agricultural community in western Hendry County
• Fort Denaud, Pioneer Plantation, Caloosa Cove and Harlem – smaller rural and riverfront areas
• Bordering Lee County? See our Lehigh Acres flat fee listing and Fort Myers flat fee listing pages

How a flat fee listing works in Hendry County

1. Request a quote. Tell us the address, property type and acreage. We confirm the flat listing fee in writing. Nothing is due upfront.
2. Price it with local comps. We pull Hendry County sales from SWFLA MLS and public records, including acreage and manufactured home comparables, which are thin and need careful adjustment.
3. Prepare the property. Professional photos, plus aerial or drone views for land and acreage where they help buyers understand boundaries and road access.
4. Go live on SWFLA MLS. Your listing syndicates through the MLS to Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin and other sites, and is visible to every cooperating agent.
5. Decide on buyer-agent compensation. Under post-2024 rules, compensation is not shown on the MLS. You decide separately what, if anything, to offer.
6. Handle offers and the contract. A licensed broker reviews offers with you, including cash land offers, financing contingencies and inspection requests.
7. Close and pay at closing. The flat listing fee is paid from your proceeds at the closing table.

Flat fee vs. traditional agent vs. FSBO in Hendry County

With longer days on market in Hendry County, many FSBO sellers find that the cash and land buyers who call first are looking for a discount. Getting on the MLS reaches the agents who represent financed buyers. Read more in flat fee MLS vs. FSBO in Florida and who pays the buyer’s agent in Florida.

Hendry County closing costs for sellers

• Documentary stamp tax on the deed: 0.70% of the sale price statewide, about $1,988 on a $284,000 sale.
• Owner’s title insurance: in much of Southwest Florida the seller customarily pays, but custom varies and your contract controls. Confirm with your title company.
• Prorated property taxes: Florida taxes are paid in arrears, so you credit the buyer for your share of the current year. Bills come from the Hendry County Tax Collector, based on values set by the Hendry County Property Appraiser.
• Mortgage payoff, HOA estoppel (if any), lien searches and recording fees.
• Any buyer-agent compensation or seller concessions you agree to in the contract.
• Your flat listing fee, paid at closing.

When is the best time to list in Hendry County?

There is no perfect month, but timing still matters. Seasonal visitors, retirees and anglers drawn to Lake Okeechobee are most active in the cooler months, and buyers from the coast tend to tour rural property when the weather is mild. Summer brings heat, rain and hurricane season, which can make insurance quotes and inspections slower. With median days on market above 100 in 2026, a reasonable plan is to list early enough to be under contract before the busy winter window closes. If you need to sell sooner, sharp pricing and broad MLS exposure matter more than the calendar.

Tips for selling a home or land in Hendry County

• Order a survey or locate your existing one; acreage buyers want to see boundaries, easements and road access.
• Have well water test results and septic records ready before the inspection period.
• For manufactured homes, confirm title status and foundation certification early.
• Gather permits for roofs, additions, barns and post-storm repairs.
• Price against recent Hendry sales, not Lee County sales; buyers and appraisers will.
• Expect cash and investor offers, and compare them against your net, not just the top-line number.

Sources: Redfin housing market data for Hendry County, LaBelle and Clewiston (2026); Zillow inventory and Momentum (movewithmomentum.com) community and supply estimates (Oct 2026); Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research 2025 population estimates and county profile; USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture county profile; Florida TaxWatch 2025 county millage averages; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Herbert Hoover Dike); National Weather Service (Hurricane Ian); Florida Realtors (flood disclosure, s. 689.302); U.S. Census Bureau. Figures are approximate and change monthly.

Hendry County Flat Fee Listing FAQ

About the Author: Sal DiBenedetto

Sal is a licensed Florida real estate broker with The DiBe Group, brokered by eXp Realty. He lists homes on the Southwest Florida MLS and Stellar MLS and helps homeowners from Sarasota to Naples sell without paying a percentage-based listing commission. More about Sal · Contact